ASIA

Global audio advertising marketplace Audacia Audio has partnered with AI creative audio studio Wondercraft to scale international audio ad production for its APAC clients using AI.
Founded by former Spotify Director Kym Treasure in 2022, Singapore-based Audacia Audio connects publishers, advertisers and customers across premium audio environments, supporting brands to produce and implement audio ads, and publishers to monetise their inventory. 

To date, Audacia has supported over 30 APAC clients to produce and monetise powerful audio advertising campaigns in over 10 markets, a process which typically takes 10 days or more. Now, Audacia is using Wondercraft’s digital Ad Studio to speed up the production process and empower clients to connect with new audiences by rapidly translating ads for multiple markets using AI.
Co-founded by former COO at Acast and early Spotify employee Oskar Serrander and Palantir engineers Dimitris Nikolaou and Youssef Rizk, Wondercraft’s AI Ad Studio enables brands and creative teams to script, voice, produce and translate studio-quality audio adverts in any language, simply by typing.
Dubbed “Canva for Audio” for its ability to radically simplify audio production, the Wondercraft platform features hyper-realistic AI voices which can be directed with absolute precision, seamless music and sound mixing, a versatile AI script- and ad copy assistant, and powerful audio translation tools.
Audacia started working with Wondercraft to produce audio creative in February 2024. Since then, the Singapore-based audio marketplace has produced dozens of slick audio campaigns using the technology for high-profile clients in the finance, entertainment and travel sectors, driving Listen Through Rates of up to 99%.
For one client, Audacia used the platform to create and rapidly translate four audio adverts from English into Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese for multiple markets. The technology has enabled Audacia to reduce average production time and scale its creative output.
Kym Treasure, co-founder at Audacia Audio, comments: “At Audacia Audio we’ve found Wondercraft to be an indispensable partner in our audio advertising campaigns. Their intuitive interface simplifies the process of crafting professional audio adverts in any language. From copywriting to voice cloning, translation and background music selection, their tools provide unparalleled flexibility and quality. The technology has enabled us to create a quantity and quality of audio ads for clients we could not have come close to otherwise, so our clients can focus their energy and budgets on marketing and monetisation. Our clients have been excited and receptive to the power of this new technology to drive fast audio ad production and iteration for multiple international markets and customer segments.”
Oskar Serrander, former Acast COO and co-founder at Wondercraft, comments: “We’re obsessed about making audio production more accessible to the marketing and ad industry. What normally eats away at the media budget, takes weeks of feedback ping-pong, and only leaves the brand with a few ads to show for can now be done in a matter of minutes and hours and leave you with endless variations of copy, voices, music and languages to deploy your ad campaigns in multiple markets, tailored to multiple target audiences. 
“I’m excited to enable brands and agencies to invest their time in developing amazing, creative concepts that drive results and help them with the rest: a fast, affordable, friction-free, studio-quality platform to make those ideas come alive. Audacia Audio was one of our earliest enterprise users and true pioneers in adopting AI to service their clients. We’re super impressed by Kym and her team’s work and excited to see the impact Wondercraft is having on their business and services.”
Wondercraft came out of Beta in February this year and is already being used by more than 40,000 storytellers, creatives, audio ad producers and brands, including world leading podcast company Acast and Steven Bartlett of Diary of a CEO.
The platform has been designed for both creators and creative teams, with a suite of team collaboration tools making it easy for creative teams at ad agencies and publishers to work together on audio projects with colleagues, clients and stakeholders. […]

The advancement of digital technology has shifted the behavior of audiences in listening to radio broadcasts. Currently, there is a tendency for the use of on-demand radio to increase, allowing listeners to choose the appropriate content. Responding to the dynamics of disruption due to technology, Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi encouraged the Public Broadcasting Institution (LPP) Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) to implement digitalization so that it can present a new, more interactive format with the use of more advanced technology.“The disruption to the broadcasting industry presents a challenge for radio people to continue to maintain their existence. This provides an urgency for the radio broadcasting industry to adapt to technological developments,” he said in a Public Discussion on “Challenges and Opportunities for Digitalization of Radio Broadcasting” organized by LPP RRI in Central Jakarta.

The event was attended by the RRI LPP Supervisory Board and the RRI Board of Directors as well as academics and students representing campuses in Indonesia who attended both offline and online.Minister Budi Arie emphasized that the Ministry of Communication and Information has issued regulations that can facilitate the development of digital-based radio broadcasting. However, the implementation of regulations needs to be balanced with the implementation of four strategic steps.“First, the need for coordinated planning to ensure the direction of digitalization that is in accordance with market developments, community demands and sustainable. Second, a multi-stakeholder approach that seeks organizers, regulators and the public in various stages of digital radio broadcast development,” he said. The third step is related to optimizing the development of the digital radio ecosystem through the utilization of the RRI LPP infrastructure. Including accommodating DAB+ and DRM technology standards. “Finally, it is necessary to form supporting regulatory policies related to various efforts to digitize national radio broadcasts from the planning phase to the implementation phase,” explained the Minister of Communication and Information.National research data shows that the percentage of online radio content is still relatively low at 8.9%.   “This is also a challenge for the radio industry so that this omnichannel is also a necessity in the future, maybe radio content can be switched into social media such as TikTok for example,” said Minister Budi Arie.Therefore, to respond to the growing trends and needs of the audience, the Minister supports the implementation of more interactive formats and access such as the integration of elements and the use of audio on demand as well as the use of data analytics.“If radio people are able to utilize their potential, the future of radio will actually open up promising opportunities. In fact, it can encourage program development strategies and advertisements that are in accordance with current consumer behavior patterns,” he said. […]

The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) was honoured with three wins at Together for Planet, People, Peace Media Awards (T4P Media Awards), organised by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).This year’s awards received more than 100 entries from major radio, television, and news agencies from 30 countries around the region, including RRI Indonesia, KBS Korea, France 24, Radio Television Brunei, Radio Television Hong Kong, and China Media Group.Among the three winners, “Bai Ca Tren Nui” (Song On The Mountain) by Ba Duy of VOV2 won first place in the People Audio Category, while “Dat Lanh” (Good Land Attracts Birds) and “Tro Ve” (Coming Home) by a group of journalists of VOV1 were placed third in the Peace Audio Category.

The award aims to recognise and celebrate the vital role of media in advancing sustainability, social justice, and peace. […]

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) has won an Asia-Pacific broadcasting award at Together for Planet, People, Peace Media Awards (T4P Media Awards), organised by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) in support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).The awards recognise and celebrate outstanding media content in promoting sustainability, inclusivity, and peace through Media and Information Literacy (MIL) practices. It is a revamped version of ABU/UNESCO Together for Peace Awards, which were launched in 2021 by Asia – Pacific Broadcasting Union and the Bangkok Regional Office of UNESCO. The first T4P Awards were held online in 2021.It was divided into video and audio categories, with a focus on people, peace and the planet. There were over 100 entries from 30 countries and regions across the Asia-Pacific.

The winners of the 2024 T4P Media Awards were announced during the T4P Awards Ceremony held in association with the 8th ABU Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Prevention, on August 7 in Bali.RTHK Radio 5’s programme “It’s a Happy Day” won the radio award for the “Peace” category.The show’s aim was to help people deal with stress and negative emotions during the Covid-19 pandemic.Each of the programme’s 365 episodes was about a minute long and packed with information listeners could use to improve their mental health.A news feature report by RTHK’s Chinese News and Current Affairs team was also nominated for a radio award under the “Planet” category. The news team interviewed Mok Ho-kwong, who is also known as “Wild Man” for his philosophy on the environment. […]

Our 2024 Asia Podcast Awards finalists have been revealed. Here’s the full list.From hundreds of entries, we have a list of 61 finalists for this year’s awards.Winners will be announced at the RadioDays Asia Conference in Kuala Lumpur, 2-4 September, giving you about two weeks to vote in the People’s Choice section of the awards.

In most cases we have named about three podcasts that scored the highest marks in each category, but in the largest categories more than three high quality finalists have been selected. Not all entries and categories were awarded*.The judges had a big job this year, with some categories receiving large numbers of submissions. Thanks very much to our judges for their hard work over the past few weeks.The largest categories were:  Interview, Money & Business, Society & Culture, Health and Wellness, Fiction and News.The countries with the strongest podcast industries, according to entry submission and finalists’ success are: Singapore, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan.Click the Tile to go through to the Finalist’s podcast feed. Share using #PodcastAwards, #Listenerschoice and podcast name hashtags.With so much competition, just getting to the finalists stage is recognition in itself, so give a big round of applause to these top performing podcasts for 2024… drum roll please!

Category

Entry

Best Children’s Entertainment Podcast
Chinese Folk Tales

The Land Before Bedtime: In Space

Best Education Podcast
Takeaway Chinese

The GlobalEd Podcast

The Guiding Voice

Best Factual Podcast
Climate Connections

Money Fact

Aging in China: Living with Alzheimer’s

Best Fictional Podcast
Ghost Maps

Echoes of Kuliang

Pontianak

Seram Story Time

Best Health and Wellness Podcast
Overcoming cancer to complete two marathons

Mind Your Business of Health

Thank Fitness it’s Friday

Best Interview Podcast
A Vietnam Podcast

Muzik Roundtable

Sports Minutes: Finding strength from struggle; a Father’s Day special

R.I.C.H.

The Bridge

Confession Bilik Gelap

Filming in Thailand

Life Confession

Forward Podcast_Best Interview Podcast

Best Money and Business Podcast
Big Take Asia

Money Talks

The Financial Coconut

Money and Me: How a Contrarian Investor Reads a Sell-Off

Unibizity

Thought Leader Club

Forward Podcast_Best Money and Business Podcast

Chat Lounge

Best New Podcast
Big Take Asia

Climate Watch

Breakfast Bites

Gen Bridge

Best News Podcast
Big Take Asia

Siti Mimah

Deep Dive

Deep Dive Podcast

Best Radio Show Podcast
Liang Wenfu Music Journey

World Today

Borak Selebriti SINAR

Best Society and Culture Podcast
Love Buzz

The Reading Room

Love Matters

Round Table China

Sembang Atas Dulang

K-Wave with Hongbin Jeong

The Daily Ketchup

Let’s Talk About Art with Art Teller Tony

Best Sport Podcast
Suited & Booted

Bats, Balls Banter

Sports Minutes: New Year, New Me (4-part series)

Sideline Story

Podcast Host or Presenter/s of the Year
Filming in Thailand – Host StephaneLambert

Michelle Martin – Presenter of the Year

Niu Honglin: Dragonboat Festival extravaganza

Podcast Publisher of the Year (major)
SYOK – Publisher of the year

CGTN Radio

Acast – Podcast Innovation of the year

Vote for your People’s Listener Choice here.* Judging in the Asia Podcast Awards 2024 follows a rigorous quality process. Usually the top three submissions are chosen as finalists, but where the marks are very close, more finalists are included. Marking is done out of 100. If a finalist is named in this list, it is likely they scored in a range between 75-100%.Other entries that may not have achieved finalist status would likely have scored 50-75%, which is also considered a significant achievement. If entries did not reach at least the 50% cut-off mark they were not eligible to be a finalist.From eligible finalists, one Indie and one Major winner will be selected if there are suitable entries in each division. Winners will be awarded recognised in our Winners list and profile stories and will be announced at the RadioDays Asia Conference in September in KL. We hope to see you there!Podcast Day Asia sessions you must attendWe’ve reserved a discounted seat for you at the 2024 RadioDays Asia Conference […]

Podcast Day Asia (PDA) takes place on Tuesday, September 5, and is part of Radiodays Asia (RDA), which takes place 2-4 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Here are some the must attend sessions at PDA 2024:Future of Podcasting – What’s next?

In this panel we look at where the future might take us. Podcasting is only 21 years old – so what will the future be, now we’re entering into adulthood? What is the future of RSS, and are the download’s days numbered? And where next for podcast measurement. Join James Cridland, Editor of Podnews, and a panel to prepare us for what’s next.Monetisation and moreHow does your podcast make money? In this session, our speakers will look at monetisation options for your podcast: from ad sales and networks, to sponsorships, subscriptions, and other ways of earning revenue. Hear from the biggest global podcast publisher on tips and tricks to make your podcast more revenue.You can register for the whole three-day Radiodays Asia conference, or you can register just for Podcast Day Asia. […]